The Day the Clown Cried Page #15
- Year:
- 1972
- 90 min
- 1,507 Views
HELMUT:
All right ... all right.
The men move back to give him room. Frantically, he tries
to think of something to do ... he knows it must be great
... or else his myth will explode. He walks around in a
little circle, trying, trying to think of something.
Finally he faces them. He bows his legs and pretends he's a
bow-legged man trying to walk a high wire, but he's so
frightened the result is pathetic, not funny.
PAN SHOT - PRISONERS
The camera works across their faces, which are
expressionless.
MED. SHOT - HELMUT
Seeing that he is getting no reaction from his "audience",
Helmut tries something else.
He pulls his shirt over his head and walks around like a
headless man. He pretends to trip over some unseen object,
peers through the front of his shirt at it, and stamps on
the object. Again he tries to walk over it, and again he
slips.
MED. SHOT - HELMUT, MEN
as Helmut starts to repeat the same routine, many of the men
are openly contemptuous. Galt wears a smirk. Keltner,
unable to watch Helmut's degradation, moves away. Others
express their disappointment, their disdain.
MEN:
If he's Germany's greatest clown,
God help the Fatherland.
Doork, the Great!
You got paid for that?
To go without food is bad enough,
but to have to watch that!
2ND NEW PRISONER
(accusingly)
You're not the clown I saw.
You lied. You're big all right.
A big liar.
4TH NEW PRISONER
(contemptuously)
And I was going to tell my kids!
UHLMANN:
He's no clown. Not even a bad one.
HELMUT:
I am. I am a clown!
They move away from him.
HELMUT:
(continuing)
Give me a chance. I just got started.
But the men continue to walk away. Helmut tries to do a
hand stand, but his hands slip in the mud, and he lands
ignominously on all fours. When he looks up, only Adolf,
Galt and Uhlmann remain.
ADOLF:
(sadly)
That's what we've been eating
our hearts out to see!
(a beat)
You stink.
You really stink.
HELMUT:
I ... I slipped. I can do it.
Seeing the disbelief on their faces, Helmut becomes almost
hysterical. He is still on his knees.
HELMUT:
I am a clown. I am. I am.
He pounds on the ground in frustration. Galt spits
contemptuously, and the three start to leave. Galt turns
back, looks down at Helmut. Very deliberately, he comes
forward to stand at a mud puddle.
GALT:
Doork the Great.
With that he kicks a shower of mud directly into Helmut's
face.
CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT
The mud splatters over his face. He cries out. His hands
go to his eyes instinctively. he kneels there, rocking back
and forth in misery. Then from o.s., we HEAR a tiny,
tentative laugh -- the tiniest laugh ever heard. Helmut
looks up quickly. He isn't sure that he heard it.
Then it comes again, a little stronger. He looks around
quickly to see who has come back to taunt him, to ridicule
him.
LONG SHOT - PRISON YARD - HELMUT'S POV
The yard is empty except for a few prisoners from other
barracks way off on the other side.
CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT
He is puzzled. Then again he hears the laugh o.s. He turns
slowly to look behind him.
MED. SHOT - BOY - HELMUT'S POV
On the other side of the fence stands a wide-eyed boy of
about eight, who is watching Helmut timidly. The ragged
youngster laughs again, hesitantly, as if unsure what Helmut
is doing is supposed to be funny, but finding it so
nevertheless.
CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT
He looks uncertainly at the youngster. Is the child
ridiculing him, too? He leans over the mud puddle and looks
at his reflection. He likes what he sees. The mud on his
face looks almost like a primitive clown mask. Very
deliberately Helmut scoops up more mud and puts a blob of it
on the end of his nose. He waits for the child's reaction.
CLOSE SHOT - BOY
His eyes are laughing, but his little lips are pressed tight
together. He has been taught not to make sounds ... not
even sounds of laughter. But finally what he is looking at
becomes too much for him and the laughter spills out between
his lips as they form a smile. He laughs delightedly now,
satisfied that Helmut is being purposely amusing.
TWO SHOT - HELMUT, BOY
Helmut gets to his feet, bows slightly and stiffly to the
child, and then attempts another hand stand. This time he
holds himself up for a moment and then deliberately allows
himself to fall on his back in the mud.
CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT
As he lands, he quickly glances off towards his barracks,
but from the look of disappointment on his face, we know
that none of his barracks mates are watching. When he hears
more laughter from o.s., he quickly rolls on his side to
look.
MED. SHOT - CHILDREN - HELMUT'S POV
Two more youngsters have joined the first, and all are
laughing excitedly. The first child jumps up and down,
clapping his hands.
WIDER ANGLE - FROM THE FENCE - FAVORING HELMUT
Helmut gets up and bows, more deeply this time, a tribute to
the children's vindication for his claim that he is a clown.
He turns toward the direction of his barracks.
HELMUT:
(screaming at top
of voice)
Come back, damn you, come back.
The children ... they're laughing.
They're laughing. I am a clown.
I am a clown.
He turns back to the children and again bows. He quickly
leans down, looks at his reflection in the puddle, and
scoops up a handful of mud which he plasters on his nose to
make a bulbous, artificial proboscis. He turns back to the
children and in pantomime, pretends to see a fly buzzing
about and tries to swat it. The imaginary fly buzzes
closer. The CAMERA MOVES UP to --
CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT
As the "fly" lands on his nose. He looks cross-eyed at the
mud blob, then swats at it. The blob falls off.
MED. SHOT - CHILDREN
There are now nine or ten youngsters at the fence, all
squealing with delight.
CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT
He bows again, and as his head comes up he looks o.s. toward
his barracks, still hoping that someone will be watching his
"great" success. When he turns back to the children, we see
that he continues to smile -- while tears course down his
cheeks through the mud still caked on them.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. MESS HALL - DAY
The last barracks on the open end of the camp on the
political prisoners' side. Outside the building is a low
counter arrangement with two prisoners behind it serving
mush and black bread to a long line of men, all of whom
carry bowls and spoons.
This time in mid-July, three weeks after the incident at the
fence. The day is bright and hot. Our ANGLE FAVORS Helmut
as he nears the prisoner who is serving up the mush.
MED. SHOT - HELMUT
As he moves up to be served and holds out his bowl. The
prisoner - messman spoons a blob of mush into it. Then he
looks around quickly and, before Helmut can pull back his
bowl, slops another half spoonful into it with a wink at
Helmut, who gives him a grateful smile in return. Helmut
moves on to the bread server, who gives him a big grin as he
slips two pieces of bread into the bowl on top of the mush.
Helmut hurries away, the CAMERA FOLLOWING him.
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